12 Days Later or, The Family Abides

Author: nrmaharaj
Comments: <a href="https://nathanmaharaj.com/2012/06/19/12-days-later-or-the-family-abides/#respond">Leave a comment
Categories: Uncategorized

June 19, 2012 § Leave a comment

Since a few days after Edmund was born we've been getting out and about. The dog's getting walked. Baby slings dusted off. Foursquare mayorships of playgrounds defended. We're doing okay. Friends and family stocked us up with food right away so we had a few days at the beginning to find our feet. Today we went for our first session of grocery shopping as a family unit since the expansion. All along the pregnancy Samson's reaction to being replaced as the baby of the house loomed as a big wildcard, but he's turned out to be an affectionate and attentive big brother, and we're lucky that he's just coming into a phase where he's trying to get good at manners, offering up please and thank you without needing prompting, and asking questions — "Mama do you like to come read a book with Samson?" — where he used to only issue demands. He's even volunteered for naps a couple of times recently. We're really proud of him. For a guy who hasn't yet celebrated his 3rd birthday, he's dealing with cataclysmic change extremely well.

So anyway, we know we can survive okay on weekends and under weekend-like conditions.

What's less clear (to me) is how to get along on weekdays when I'm at work and Allie's alone with the 2 boys and Edmund's not respecting the boundaries of his diaper and Samson's nap didn't take and he's doing the pee-pee dance but refusing to do anything constructive about it (i.e. acting his age). I'm sure she's already got an idea of how to keep the household humming while I just worry about what'll happen when I'm not here to… what?… change some diapers and start a load of laundry?

On second thought, this is all going to be fine as soon as I either stop worrying about it or leave for 10 hours.

Nathan's blog